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Monday, February 1, 2016

1 Feb - Blogs I'm Following

[image: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves to supporters as he arrives at a campaign rally at Clinton Middle School, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Clinton, Iowa.] “You wonder how these things begin.” -- (The Fantasticks) In the beginning there was a combative media. Dating back to Colonial America, as Eric Burns has chronicled in his book, Infamous Scribblers, politicians and journalists have mostly had a love (for...more »

[image: Random Thoughts RBY - 900] Random thoughts on the passing scene: Will this November’s presidential election come down to a choice between a felon and a pied piper? People who call Barack Obama a lame duck president seem not to have noticed that he is...more »

*ABC News*: *US General Calls 'Carpet Bombing' ISIS Against American Values* While some Republican presidential candidates have suggested that “carpet bombing” ISIS would lead to a quick defeat of the terror group, the top U.S. military commander fighting ISIS doesn’t think that’s a good idea and “inconsistent with our values.” Lt. General Sean MacFarland told Pentagon reporters today in a video-conference from Baghdad that the U.S. is bound by the laws of armed conflict and “at the end of the day, you know, it doesn’t only matter whether or not you win, it matters how you win." ...more »

*TRUMP = LOSER* Yesterday Dave Weigel tweeted that far right racist Congressman Steve King told him the polls may be wrong about Trump. "You can't say 'Two Corinthians' and be winning evangelicals." Well... looks like King knew his state's Republican voters better than most of the pollsters did. I wonder if Herr Trumpf laying some greasy bills on a silver communion plate at a church he was using as a prop for his campaign yesterday was the last straw. It looks like the Our Principles PAC-funded voters guide that tens of thousands of homes got in the mail warning them that Herr Tr...more »

Last month we took a look at the gay porn company that did a movie based loosely on the life and foibles of Republican congressional closet case Aaron Schock, Cauke For President. Now another gay porn house, TitanMen, wants to make a series of gay porno films *starring* Aaron. They're offering him as much as a million dollars. And Aaron needs that money as the legal bills for keeping him out of prison continue to mount. Although he has over half a million dollars left in his campaign account-- which he is allowed to use for his legal defense-- he already owes his attorneys at Jone...more »

"Have you ever seen the Man on the Moon? This common question plays on the ability of humans to see pareidolia- imagining familiar icons where they don't actually exist. The textured surface of Earth's full Moon is home to numerous identifications of iconic objects, not only in modern western culture but in world folklore throughout history. Examples, typically dependent on the Moon's perceived orientation, include the Woman in the Moon and the Rabbit in the Moon. *Click image for larger size.* One facial outline commonly identified as the Man in the Moon starts by imagining the two...more »

*"Courage"* "It is in the small things we see it. The child's first step, as awesome as an earthquake. The first time you rode a bike, wallowing up the sidewalk. The first spanking when your heart went on a journey all alone. When they called you crybaby or poor or fatty or crazy and made you into an alien, you drank their acid and concealed it. Later, if you faced the death of bombs and bullets you did not do it with a banner, you did it with only a hat to cover your heart. You did not fondle the weakness inside you though it was there. Your courage was a small coal that you kept swallo...more »

"There are some oddities in the perspective with which we see the world. The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 93 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be." - Douglas Adams

*"The Invitation"* "It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing. It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive. It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mi...more »

*"With Love... Leo"* by Leo Buscaglia "Tonight I would like to talk to you about something really important to me. I'm constantly meeting people and working with people. And I'm becoming so very concerned because the people I meet are so wonderful and so beautiful, and yet they are afraid to show their wonder and show their beauty. They are in constant doubt about being beautiful and wonderful. If there is to be any hope for us as lovers, we've got to make sure to express this love and this caring and bring it out into the open and not be afraid. So tonight, I would like to talk ...more »

I ended 2015 with a pretty modest bird list and hope of surpassing that number for this year. February tends to be a bit of a black hole for me since by mid-January I've tended to see all of the usual suspects that over-winter and that tend to frequent the bird feeders in my yard. My list then tends to gather a bit of dust with very few additions until late-March or early April when either all the migrating species start to show up or the weather warms up and allows me to venture out a bit more. Overall, we've had a pretty tame winter so perhaps this year the February "black hole...more »

[image: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton meets with staff at the Hillary for Iowa Office in Des Moines, Iowa, Monday, Feb. 1, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)] As Iowa’s caucus-goers prepare to bundle up and do battle for their favorite candidates, Hillary Clinton this morning again brushed off the growing scandal over her private email server and handling of classified information. Appearing on CNN’s New Day Clinton insisted “there...more »

Commanding General of U.S. Special Operations Command Gen. Joseph Votel. Army.mil *Washington Free Beacon:* *Special Ops Commander Demands Pentagon Stop Exposing Operations* Gen. Joseph Votel: Publicity makes it harder for forces to do their jobs. President Obama’s nominee to head U.S. Central Command recently penned a memo to Defense Secretary Ash Carter demanding that the Pentagon stop discussing the operations of elite American troops. Foreign Policy, which obtained an excerpt of the memo, reported that Gen. Joseph Votel, currently the chief of U.S. Special Operations Command, ...more »

[image: ethanol subsidies] Over the weekend, Ted Cruz was confronted by an angry farmer in Iowa who wanted to go toe-to-toe with the Texas senator for his stance on ethanol. Cruz is against the renewable fuel standard for ethanol -- a key issue for... Continue reading *“Cruz Is Confronted by Angry Iowa Farmer Over Ethanol Subsidies, Responds with Reason”* at *theblaze.com*.

*Observer:* *BREAKING: Hillary Clinton Put Spies’ Lives at Risk* It's not the 'nothing-burger' Clinton allies have tried to portray -- lives are literally at stake. For months you’ve read about EmailGate in this column. I’ve elaborated how Hillary Clinton, the apparent Democratic frontrunner for President this year, put large amounts of classified information at grave risk through slipshod security practices by herself and her staff. Now that scandal has taken a significant turn for the more ominous. Last Friday afternoon the State Department’s latest court-mandated release of Hi...more »

* This is my article in SPARK by ADRi last January 26, 2016. *Old renewables and coal are cool, they are complementary and not contradictory* January 29, 2016 Bienvenido Oplas, Jr., Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute (ADRi) Fellow Darkness and lack of electricity is inhuman. Having expensive and unstable electricity supply when cheaper and stable power sources are available is wrong and lousy. When many streets and roads are dark at night because local governments or private subdivisions are economizing on their monthly electricity bills and power supply is limited, there are ...more »

President Putin meets with Chechnya's leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, at the Kremlin, December 4, 2014. REUTERS/Alexei Druzhinin/RIA *Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker:* *Putin's Dragon* *Is the ruler of Chechnya out of control?* The center of Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, is unrecognizable to anyone who saw it during the country’s two most recent wars against Russia. The First Chechen War, which began in 1994, was a war of nationalist resistance—Chechnya had declared independence from Russia when the Soviet Union disintegrated—and ended two years later, after a Russian ...more »

I've been thinking about my sense of travel risks since last week's boat disaster. Pangas - heavy fibreglass open boats, generally with a couple of big outboards - run between Corn Island and Little Corn Island, off the Nicaraguan mainland in the Caribbean. The airport is on Corn Island, a lot of people want to stay on quieter Little Corn and the boats ferry people the 15 kms between the two. A sometimes bumpy ride, as my writer friend Matt Jones describes here. On Jan. 23, the winds had prevented sailings for at least a day, and tourists were getting impatient. A group of Costa Rican...more »

[image: Koch brothers network] INDIAN WELLS, Calif. - Donald Trump is so fiercely opposed by the Koch brothers network that some donors believe the powerful group will intervene to stop the billionaire if it looks like he could win the Republican presidential nomination. “They are always... Continue reading *“Koch Brothers Network Ready to Oppose Trump”* at *thehill.com*.

[image: federal employees] A quarter of federal government employees say they would consider leaving their jobs if Donald Trump were to become president, according to a new poll. Continue reading *“Poll: 25 Percent of Federal Employees Might Quit Under President Trump”* at *thehill.com*.

*Time*: *WHO Declares Zika an International Public Health Emergency* The World Health Organization declared the spread of Zika and an associated birth defect an international public health emergency Monday, freeing funds to combat the disease. “This is an extraordinary event,” said WHO Director General Margaret Chan at a press conference Monday. “It poses a public health threat to other parts of the world and a coordinated international response is needed.” Chan cited the pattern of the disease’s spread, the lack of a vaccine, and the large global population of mosquitoes that can...more »

[image: Namaxia_188] Used the two days of good weather to steal a ride in the south to Namaxia. Gorgeous weather, grand scenery, and great conversation made for a perfect two-day ride in the mountains of Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Chiayi. It was my first ride in a long time, with my hip finally feeling better. So happy... Props to Drew, who planned this wonderful ride. Click on READ MORE to join us on this great ride. [image: route1] ROUTE NOTES: We took the 6:33 fast local train to Longtian station in Tainan, arriving at 8:36. A bike bag revolutionizes your riding possibilities! From...more »

Startling drone footage reveals the scale of destruction in Syria after nearly five years of conflict. Huffington Post reports: RT correspondent Murad Gazdiev and his crew flew a drone through Hom’s abandoned streets and over its buildings, revealing haunting aerial views of a lifeless city of rubble. Syria’s third largest city, Homs was once a thriving industrial centre. RT YouTube video: In 2011 it become known as the “capital of the revolution” against the Assad regime and consequently the scene of some of the heaviest battles of the Syrian civil war. Under a UN-negotiated deal, ...more »

A man from Zimbabwe stabbed a Moroccan diplomat 42 times in an uncontrollable frenzied attack after waking up in the envoy’s bed. Nigel Kahari was not sure what transpired between himself and his victim while sleeping in the same bed but assumes that they might have had sex. Kahari testified in a South African court that his leader Robert Mugabe regarded gay people as “worse than pigs and dogs” and being gay is punishable by law in Zimbabwe and does not accord with biblical views. The Zimbabwean reports: Nigel Kahari, 21, testified that where he grew up in Zimbabwe he was taught to ...more »

A video on YouTube shows a Miami-Dade police officer getting pulled over by a disgruntled woman driver after he passes her at speed on the freeway. The cop ends up apologizing to the brave citizen driver after she chased him down and gave him a ticking off for his erratic driving during the rush hour. She eventually lets him off with just a warning after he apologizes for driving fast trying to get to work on-time. He eventually drives off after inquiring from the woman citizen if there is any other emergency that he can help her with, to which she replies, no. Sputnik reports: The ...more »

*Wall Street Journal editorial*: *Syria’s Phony Peace Talks* *Assad bombs with impunity while Islamic State gains ground.* Regarding the Syrian peace talks that began over the weekend in Geneva, allow us to raise two questions: What peace—and what talks? The regime of Bashar Assad is intensifying its longstanding “starve or kneel” policy against besieged enclaves containing an estimated half a million people. The regime has also scored recent battlefield victories against moderate opposition forces, aided by a combination of Russian air power, Hezbollah ground fighters and Iran’s ...more »

[image: A Mexican marine keeps watch in the house where five alleged gang members were killed in the military operation which resulted in the recapture of Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, in Los Mochis city, Sinaloa State, Mexico on January 11, 2016. Mexican marines recaptured fugitive drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman on January 8 in the northwest of the country, six months after his spectacular prison break embarrassed authorities.] TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- The highly secretive, daylong law enforcement operation around the Arizona border with Mexico resulted in the arrest of two dozen...more »

[image: Staffan de Mistura - 900] GENEVA (AP) -- Members of the main Syrian opposition group said Monday they plan to give U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura a “roadmap” for implementation of their humanitarian demands on Syria that they say must happen before they formally join...more »

Two years after China’s Chang’e-3 lunar rover started exploring the moon, the National Space Administration has released hundreds of true color HD photos of the lunar surface for the world to see. New China TV YouTube video: China’s Yutu rover reveals Moon’s “complex” geological history RT reports: The China National Space Administration published images, videos and scientific data on its website, making them available to anyone who registers. China is the third nation after Russia and the US to land on the moon, and this was the first soft-landing on the Earth’s only natural satell...more »

Cartoons by JoshListen to Alan Jones and Craig Kelly on 2GB - http://www.2gb.com/audioplayer/152586 Preamble by Alan re the recent deluge of rain in Sydney, Darwin, St Kilda, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Tasmania and flood warnings re cyclone Stan in W.A. Alan: Craig Kelly, member for Hughes does his homework and talks the language of his electorate. (Last week Craig attended the funeral of Professor Bob Carter.) Alan says he doesn’t know of a Federal MP more in touch and that Craig has done some homework on previous Australian of the year, Tim Flannery. Some of Flannery’s predictions....more »

[image: In this screengrab, residents of the small German community Bad Schlema listened as their mayor said that elementary school-aged girls should take alternative routes to school and not provoke refugees with the way they dress.] The mayor of a small German community said elementary school-aged girls should take alternative routes to school and not provoke refugees with the way they dress. The town of Bad Schlema in central Germany has 5,500 residents. More than 100 people showed...more »

Russia have confirmed that Saudi authorities have arrested members of a known CIA-ISIS terror cell operating within their country. The arrests follow Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) giving intel to Saudi authorities that proved the CIA were actively funding and arming ISIS. The arrests come weeks after President Putin warned Saudi Arabia that Russia had “finite patience” regarding their complicity with the US CIA in arming and funding ISIS militants in Syria and Iraq. Whatdoesitmean.com reports: Within the past 24 hours, this report continues, the GIP communicated to the...more »

You know dude that food is not releibale and condoms beyond the pales if anyone one statved to the bone wants sex anyway Wake up condom manfu start by telling eveyone they will not need rubbers if teh food factory' fails to have protedcdti9on I am so derivite so full of commnon sense so full of no emplymetn tthat I want rats to eat our foudd b ut no no thats not me I forgive you idots I want to live in humanityhh 'with a big screen tv and the internet and thats life about as perfect as we can do\ if we can findin the collective w9isdom to stop the rats asscemdt

*"The War on the Credit Cycle Has Only Just Begun…"* by Bill Bonner RHINEBECK, New York – "We spent the weekend up north… where people put “Feel the Bern” bumper stickers on their Subarus. In a tavern in Rhinebeck – where we are writing – the “socialist” slap seems to have lost its sting. There is a reverential portrait of FDR near the bar. “He’s the only candidate who makes any sense to me,” said a local. “You can’t trust Hillary. And the Republicans are all nuts.” He’s right… You can’t trust Hillary. The Republicans may all be nuts. And socialism “makes sense”… in a simpleton kin...more »

*Reuters*: *Exclusive: Brazil says Zika virus outbreak worse than believed* Brazil's top health official said on Monday that the Zika virus outbreak is proving to be worse than believed because most cases show no symptoms, but improved testing should allow the country to get a better grip on the burgeoning public health crisis. Health Minister Marcelo Castro told Reuters that Brazil will start mandatory reporting of cases by local governments next week when most states will have labs equipped to test for Zika, the mosquito-borne virus that has quickly spread through Latin America....more »

Someone I know suddenly decided to give up his business and work for someone else. He was fed up with hiring staff who turned out to be unreliable and incompetent, and tired of reps phoning him every ten minutes. He figured he’d be better off just doing what he enjoyed - (hairdressing as it happens) No more responsibility, thanks. I’d rather be told what to do. That’s an allegory. Parable for the day. Call me Dawkins, but that’s kind of why people do religion, or more specifically, Islam. Get your daily guidance from God almighty, and be righteous. While I appreciate the appeal...more »

"We'll never see their like again" is a refrain common to the passing of major league celebrities. With David Bowie this was because of his profound influence on pop music and performance, an impact that is probably impossible for anyone to repeat ever. And then there is Terry Wogan who, I would suggest, is of a *similar type* of celebrity. What? As beloved Terry Wogan is, how can he as a *Radio 2* presenter, former talk show host, and longtime commentator on Europe's silly song contest be considered to have much in common with our *culture-defining* legend? Yes, and it comes down ...more »

Univision Communications just bought a 40 percent controlling interest in The Onion. They also acquired the option to buy the remainder of The Onion in the future. The Onion is now controlled by Univision, whose co-owner, chairman, and CEO is Haim Saban, close friend to Hillary Clinton. He is also Hillary Clinton’s singular, biggest financial supporter. He’s given Hillary more than two million dollars for political campaigns, and at least another 10 million to her Foundation. His wife sits on the board of Clinton’s Foundation. The Resident breaks down the state of comedy in the w...more »

Russia have obtained video evidence showing the Turkish military bombing Syrian civilians from Turkish border posts. Major General Igor Konashenkov has demanded an immediate explanation from NATO, Turkey and the Pentagon on the incident on Monday. Farsnews.com reports: Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov demonstrated the video depicting a part of the Syrian-Turkish border during the press-conference. “This facility is a Turkish border outpost, which did not have any firing points a few months ago,” he said. According to the spokesman, the Ministry of Defense recently received the video foot...more »

Ron Paul has warned Americans that Congress’ authorisation for a “war against ISIS” is going to lead to perpetual US wars around the globe, and lead to martial law being declared in the United States against its own citizens. Ron Paul says that Senator Mitch McConnell’s authorization for war allows the President to put troops anywhere in the world where the Pentagon believe ISIS to operate, which means a potential scenario involving military troops on U.S. streets. Townhall.com reports: The President does not have to deploy the U.S. military to turn America into a militarized polic...more »

Anonymous have leaked information that they claim originate from NASA servers, showing evidence of an extensive drone weather modification program that prove that Chemtrails exist. Anonsec released a paper that contained a detailed account of their hack, as well as analysis of the NASA data they recovered. The data reveals information about NASA’s connection to weather modification research in a log of a DC-8 jetliner, which was conducting a flight in accordance with their “Alternative-Fuel Effects on Contrails and Cruise EmiSSions” project. Trunews.com reports: Anonsec Admin Dêfãu...more »

*“The purpose of architecture is to make a home for man.”* ~ Aldo Van Eyck *The purpose of architecture is not just to look nice in magazines. In five words or less, the primary purpose of good architecture is: giving meaning to our** lives**. To quote the late, great New Zealand architect Claude Megson, "If it doesn't have meaning, then you're just wanking."* *In this three-part post, I argue that architecture ‘marks our spot,’ engages our spirits, and tells us daily who we are.* *Read on to begin . . .* *** WHEN MAN FINALLY CONQUERED mountain, when Hillary and Tenzing reache...more »

Yeah I feel bad I feel miserable and I can not see the sunrise cause of my situation where I was like Icusas and then I got burned not by the Gods just by men so far I have not recovered and that was 15 years ago and now is not Zen I like to lash out with no effect at imaginary enimies when I know they are all my neighbours existing on a wing and a prayer not realizing they are periolus flying The whole outhose is on fire but no one can smell the smoke cause it smells like shit and most people have spent their whole lives with the nose in that spoke

United Nations (UN) chief General Ban Ki-moon has issued a scathing attack on the Israeli government for what he has declared the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and settlement construction on the occupied lands. The Secretary General told the New York Times on Sunday that enough is enough, saying that the Palestinian people can no longer tolerate Israel’s aggression. “History proves that people will always resist occupation,” Ban told the newspaper. Presstv.com reports: The UN chief denounced Tel Aviv’s plans to build over 150 new settlements and to confiscat...more »

The CDC have admitted for the first time that vaccines may be ineffective at providing immunity against some diseases. In a study published in the journal Emerging Infectious Disease, 26 preschool-aged children were given vaccinations for pertussis (whooping cough) in 2013, and were subsequently found to have a 50 percent increase in infection rates compared to unvaccinated children. Naturalnews.com reports: But wait, shouldn’t the infection rate go down, not up? Hmmm. The published article, entitled, Sustained Transmission of Pertussis in Vaccinated, 1–5-Year-Old Children in a Pres...more »

Russia have announced plans to officially recognize Turkey as “an accomplice of terrorism”, saying that Turkish political organizations such as the “Grey Wolves” will be banned in the country. The bold move was suggested by MP Sergei Obukhov after evidence emerged that the “Grey Wolves” organisation may have been responsible for the downing of the Russian A321 plane over Sinai. Pravdareport.com reports: “As for Turkey, given irrefutable evidence of Ankara’s criminal ties with ISISL militants, Russia should have initiated the process to recognize the Turkish Republic as an accomplic...more »

[image: marijuana use] Years of smoking pot may have an effect on a person’s verbal memory, which is the ability to remember certain words, a new study finds. For every five years of marijuana use, researchers found that, on average, one out of... Continue reading *“Marijuana Use May Affect Verbal Memory”* at *livescience.com*.

A woman from the quaint English village of St Osyth has said that she is being terrorised by a satanic goat, forcing her to sell up and flee the family home. Vanessa Mitchell says that the cottage – also known as ‘The Cage’ – has a dark and disturbing past. It was a former medieval prison where women who were accused of performing witchcraft during England’s persecution in the 16th century were sent to be killed. Before she sells her home, Mitchell is opening it up for people to visit, so they can get a chance to witness the many ghostly apparitions others have reported. On her Fac...more »

[image: The Islamic Society of Baltimore, Al-Rahmah School is shown in Baltimore, Monday, March 5, 2007. Majid Khan, 26, now jailed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the only U.S. resident among 14 detainees the government considers its most dangerous. U.S. officials see his odyssey from suburbia to an offshore prison as a worrisome example of the radicalization of young Muslim men, but also as a victory in the nation's war on terror. Khan volunteered at the Islamic Society of Baltimore, teaching computer classes through a youth enrichment program.] The Baltimore mosque President Obama has ch...more »

[image: aerial surveillance] Gov. Greg Abbott and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat, pressed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Monday to explain why the agency plans to reduce its aerial surveillance on the Texas-Mexico border. In a letter to DHS... Continue reading *“Texas Governor, Congressman Question Federal Plan to Slash Aerial Surveillance on Border”* at *valleycentral.com*.

[image: The oil platform Gail in the Santa Barbara Channel, California, is approximately ten miles offshore. Gail produces from the Sockeye Field for Venoco, Inc.] The federal government won't issue any new permits allowing offshore hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in California after settling a lawsuit with the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) Friday. The settlement not only gave CBD everything it ask for, including a lengthy environmental...more »

VICE News *Washington Post*: *See the female fighters who strike fear in the hearts of Colombian troops* The other day, I asked a group of special forces officers from Colombia's National Police what they thought of all the recent reports by journalists who have camped out with FARC rebels as the group nears a peace deal with the government. Photographers and camera crews from Al Jazeera, VICE and the Associated Press have all been invited into FARC-controlled territory to spend several days with guerrilla "fronts," offering a fascinating glimpse into their daily lives. Not surp...more »

A team of six RAF officers and MI6 operatives flew to an airbase near the eastern Libyan city of Tobruk to plan airtstrikes against ISIS, according to reports. Daily Mail *Daily Mail:* *UK pleads with Libya to accept 1,000 British troops to break ISIS foothold just 200 miles from Europe on the Mediterranean coast* * ISIS has set up North African HQ in Muammar Gaddaffi coastal hometown * Authorities fear militants could pose as refugees boarding boats to Europe * RAF prepares series of air strikes against the 3,000 ISIS fighters in Libya * British troops could join 6,000 Italian-led...more »

Yes in the socal compact and whey all the dead Canaians on Vimey ridge really meant something but they acutally did not so lets stop celebrating' and embrace\ the words od GWB in the end we are all dead and live your life like its the only one and fuck those who ask you for sacrifice when they sit a home

http://heavenletters.org/be-good-to-yourself.html *Be Good to Yourself* Heavenletter #5547 Published on: February 1, 2016 God said: What will life be like when you become good to yourself? This is not self-centeredness We are talking about. This is when you will be pleasant and welcoming of yourself, knowing you are here to be kind even to yourself. Not forgiving yourself, none of that. Accepting. Accepting that you are learning along the way. Accepting that you don’t know all there is to know about life and yourself and most certainly accepting that you don’t know all there is t...more »

I learned very early in childhoood that my family could not have a car. We could not have heat in our home after supper. We could not go for a summer holiday any further than the outskirts of Montreal. We could not eat in a restaurant. And, on balance, it's useful to know what we cannot have. But our news media avoid the subject – so as not to offend their owners. The U.S. cannot afford the cost of its race for world dominance. It creates big profits for the owners of defence industries. It provides trillions of dollars worth of killers free of charge for the oil industry. But it ...more »

Lou Vince was the pick of 82% of CA-25 party leaders, despite corrupt DCCC boss Steve Israel Yesterday, Gallup released a survey showing that voter identification with the Democratic Party has sunk to an all-time low, just 29% (slightly better than the GOP's 26%), as more and more people view themselves as independents (42%). Americans haven't abandoned the party of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt; the party of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt-- on every level-- has abandoned them. The Democratic Party is now nearly as much a subsidiary of Wall Street as the GOP is. As Pelosi has grown ...more »

*Guest post by Stephen Berry from Affordable Auckland * I am backing the Government’s unusual step to join with Auckland Council in fighting an attempt by residents in Three Kings to block a 1500-unit housing development in the Three Kings quarry. One of the leading causes of house price inflation in Auckland is Nimbys and their desire to interfere in other people’s business. Well done to the Government and the Council for sticking to their guns. More than seventy public and local board meetings have been held since 2008 to consult on a plan change allowing the development to ta...more »

*Many free market advocates often mistakenly speak of ‘the market’ as if the market itself had agency; as if markets by themselves somehow solve problems or provide incentives. Only people can do these things, explains **Louis Rouanet** in this guest post, and markets temselves are just a means to that end...* It is wrongly claimed by many classical liberals, libertarians and libertarian-leaners that most, if not all, social problems can be ‘solved by the market.’ But as many critics of the market point out, the ‘market’ itself cannot magically solve our problems—and to claim that...more »

*Charlie Savage - Power Wars: Inside Obama's Post-9/11 Presidency (2015)*. *C-SPAN: Book Discussion on Power Wars (January 5, 2016).* *Video Title: Power Wars: Inside Obama’s Post-9/11 Presidency. Source: wwwMOXNEWScom. Date Published: February 1, 2016. Description: * Charlie Savage talked about his book Power Wars: Inside Obama’s Post-9/11 Presidency, in which he argues that President Obama, who came into office saying that he would turn back the excesses of the Bush administration, has actually just picked up where President Bush left off. "Nearly all books on national security p...more »

Southern California was cleaning up after Sundays El Niño driven winds caused damage and power outages Thousands of households were left without electricity as storms downed trees and power poles in Southern California. Gusts of wind up to 115mph were recorded as heavy rain hit the west coast, causing massive outages and flooding on Sunday night. YouTube video by novi hartono We need this rain, but it doesn’t take much for the streets of LA to turn into Waterworld.… https://t.co/HMV4JlTbqKpic.twitter.com/LlsFc11NwA — Nayo Wallace (@NayoMergereW) January 31, 2016 ABC7 reports: As many...more »

Max and Stacy are in Moscow where money is flowing, jobs are plentiful and the good times are rolling. Or that's what they report. Elizabeth Warren Releases Blistering Report on Corporate Criminality – Singles Out SEC Uselessness David Sirota | Hillary Clinton Gets $13 Million From Health Industry, Now Says Single-Payer Will "Never, Ever Come to Pass" _ _ _ _ _ _ _ The truth is, one

[image: GOP Fox Business Debate - 900 000] GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz is being criticized for giving only about 1 percent of his income to charity over the past few years. What may surprise some is that this looks to be fairly typical for the candidates in the...more »

Humans are here to be free and not be mean we got so much good things to doo we can not be distracted by those who think they came to the human condition first and now eveything they say is commoplace We are all happy we are all content that is the life big event

[image: President Barack Obama speaks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Friday, Jan. 29, 2016, during a ceremony marking the 7th anniversary of the signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.] Millions of people around the world are emerging from poverty thanks to rising economic freedom. But by sharp contrast, America's economic freedom has been on a declining path over the past decade. According to the 2016 Index of Economic Freedom,...more »

[image: Trump University] Louis Piatt still regrets the day he signed up for Trump University. The Monroe, Iowa retiree says he was duped into squandering more than $11,000 on real estate seminars and workshops. While Piatt lost money, Trump himself made millions. Trump... Continue reading *“Trump University Swindled Me, Says Iowa Retiree”* at *aminewswire.com*.

[image: Kirk Franklin - 400] Over the past 25 years, there’s been no more prominent name in gospel music than Kirk Franklin. In that time, the singer has been no stranger to controversy. By merging hip-hop with gospel, he brought the stars and sound of... Continue reading *“Gospel Star Kirk Franklin Wants to Help You ‘Lose’ Your Religion”* at *npr.org*.

[image: drones] Police in Holland are touting a unique anti-drone weapon -- a specially trained eagle. The Dutch National Police have trained an eagle to take down Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), as revealed in a video posted to YouTube Sunday. Continue reading *“Holland Police Train Eagle to Take Down Drones”* at *foxnews.com*.

[image: Rosenberg - 400] A best-selling Christian author known for his high-level government contacts inside Israel says most of the candidates running for president, including the front-runners of both major parties, are ill-prepared to deal with the threat of what he calls "apocalyptic Islam."... Continue reading *“Christian Mega-Author: Trump ‘Absolute Catastrophe’ as President”* at *wnd.com*.

Yes I am to smart to play the game but down in t stables cleaing up the shit is not so satififyig and who should I explaon that Jesus never died\ upon the cross in fact he probably never existed he is just the best false flag you will ever run accross All human histroy you can judge with just one blink Malcom Gadwell master swordsman eventuall No one tell the truth about anything thats a face thats the problem with everything primates do not lie they just kill for the t truth So lets googl;e this and become so comopoliktian\ whji;e the Zombies 'band upon the door Yeah we got a microwav...more »

*MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2016Or you can watch Rachel Maddow:* Over the weekend, we had a pair of conflicting experiences. On the one hand, we read this informative, if slightly tricky, post by Kevin Drum. Drum presents information about historical blood lead levels across the country and also in Flint. He also quotes a person he considers to be an expert about the likely severity of health effects from what has happened in Flint. That was one experience. On the other hand, we read back through Rachel Maddow's presentations concerning Flint, starting with her initial reports on Decem...more »

*Chamber of Commerce chief Tom Donohue explaining to viewers on the Bloomberg wealth channel how the wealthy plan to pass TPP despite public opposition (source). That's the beautiful snow of a Davos resort in the background.* *by Gaius Publius* This is the essence of money talking about money at a place where money's private jets have gathered to meet (the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland). From the Bloomberg News introduction: U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue discusses his stance and outlook for the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal. He speaks from...more »

Asaad Al-Zoubi (R), head of the Syrian opposition delegation, and Salim al-Muslat (2nd R), spokesman for the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), attend peace talks with U.N. mediator for Syria Staffan de Mistura (2nd L) at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, February 1, 2016. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse *New York Times:* *Syria Talks Take Tentative Step Forward Despite New Attacks* GENEVA — The United Nations mediator in the war in Syria met on Monday in Geneva with members of the opposition, as deaths from a suicide attack on a Shiite shrine in a government-controlled territory...more »

I periodically get some comments and complaints asking me WHY I put some focus on the Lougheed Martin F35 "Lightning II" aircraft, and not put all of my focus on the Jewish problem.... I say to these naysayers and critics that the F35 flying lemon is actually s symptom of the entire problem facing both America and the world today, which is a massive waste of money and resources..... The fact that this program that will produce a few thousand "fighter" planes that absolutely cannot fight at a cost of well over 1.5 TRILLION dollars is mind blowing! It is in the simplest terms availa...more »

This is a guest post by Patrick Emmenegger, Professor of Comparative Political Economy and Public Policy at the University of St. Gallen, as part of the Duck of Minerva’s Symposium on Structural Power and the Study of Business. This post draws on ideas developed at greater length in Emmenegger’s article found here. Links to other posts in […]

Benoit Violier, 44, who was voted as the worlds best chef two months ago, has been found dead at his home in an apparent suicide. Swiss police say an investigation into his death has been launched as he died of shotgun injuries. The Week reports: Violier ran the three Michelin-starred Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville in the small town of Crissier, near Lausanne. It was ranked best in the world by France’s prestigious La Liste initiative last December. His death comes just months after his long-time mentor and predecessor Philippe Rochat died after falling ill, the BBC reports. Born in...more »

Every day when I turn on the Jew spew media to see what the liars and bullshit artists are promoting, I am finding more and more reports about this "Zika Virus" outbreak..... The fear mongering is just out of control now as the big Jew media outlets are telling everyone to be "afraid" and of course to NOT travel to any country that right now has a "Zika virus epidemic".... I am still waiting for them to start pushing everyone to line up like dumb ass sheep to take the latest and greatest "vaccine" to "prevent" getting this virus, and I can guarantee it is coming..... I last reported...more »

(h/t David Preiser) For those who haven't already read it, Andrew Gilligan's latest 'scoop' at the *Telegraph* makes for a dramatic read: An organised campaign to undermine Britain’s fight against terrorism can be revealed today. Islamist activists linked to Cage, a group known to sympathise with terrorists, are using coordinated leaks to mainstream news organisations, including the BBC, to spread fear and confusion in Muslim communities about the Government’s anti-terror policy, Prevent. Investigations by the Telegraph reveal that several widely reported recent stories about ...more »

Users of Facebook’s Android app are being warned that it could be responsible for a reduced performance of their smartphones and a big drain on battery life. The Daily Star reports: Tests have revealed that when Facebook is installed on Android phones they can run up to 15% slower. One Facebook fan has now taken to Reddit to reveal the findings which show a huge difference in performance when the social media app is ditched. The test involved launching 15 popular apps in succession with each loading much faster when Facebook wasn’t installed on the phone. The Reddit user named pbran...more »

*Washington Post*: *Trapped by the Islamic State, Iraqis in Fallujah say they are going hungry, too* BEIRUT — As Iraqi security forces choke off Islamic State fighters in the militant-held city of Fallujah, civilians inside say they are trapped and struggling to survive. The military siege, which has tightened in the past two months, is preventing food and medical supplies from reaching the city 40 miles west of Baghdad, while the Islamic State won’t let families leave. The United Nations says it is “deeply worried” about the deteriorating humanitarian situation and unverified re...more »

[image: Trump] Trump took Communion. Then he put a couple of bills on the Communion plate. "I thought it was for offering," he explained and laughed, according to a report by the Associated Press. Continue reading *“Trump Puts Cash in Communion Plate”* at *religionnews.com*.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a “public health emergency” on Monday, due to the apparent link of the Zika virus to a surge in serious birth defects in South America. Following a meeting of independent experts in Geneva, WHO director-general Margaret Chan said Zika was an “extraordinary event” that needed a coordinated response. “I am now declaring that the recent cluster of microcephaly and other neurological abnormalities reported in Latin America following a similar cluster in French Polynesia in 2014 constitutes a public health emergency of international concern” ...more »

Lots going on present day- So a quick round up of interesting news items! *U.S. envoy visited Kurdish- Annexed Syrian north* This surely has to do with the impending move to create that continuous Kurdish area, annexed violently, from Syria.* Covered in two previous posts: ** "Kurds Gear Up for Major Offensive Against ISIS" aka Annexing Syrian Territory And* *Narrative Prep for NATO's Invasion of Syria via (NATO Occupied) Turkey* [image: Brett McGurk, the United States' new envoy to the coalition it leads against Islamic State, speaks to reporters during a news conference at the U....more »

When an entry on Wikipedia dies, can it come back as a paper in a peer-reviewed journal? Apparently not, according to the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, which has retracted a 2013 article about reincarnation after discovering the authors lifted text from a “old revision” of a Wikipedia entry on the subject. The article, “The mystery of […] The post Wikipedia page reincarnated as paper: Authors plagiarized paper on reincarnation appeared first on Retraction Watch.

*L.A. Times:* *U.S. to urge partners to do more to fight Islamic State amid complaints from Pentagon* President Obama has repeatedly touted the U.S.-led coalition assembled to battle Islamic State militants, but Pentagon officials are expressing growing frustration that some of the 64 partner nations and regional groups are backing the effort in name only. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has been the most vocal, complaining last month that some allies are "not doing enough or doing nothing at all." The grumbling comes as the White House considers stepping up the war effort by ...more »

Singer Adele says that Donald Trump does not have permission to use her songs at campaign rallies after fans expressed their anger that the billionaire Presidential hopeful was using her hits as his warm-up music. Her spokesman confirmed that “Adele has not given permission for her music to be used for any political campaigning” RT reports: The Republican frontrunner regularly plays the British songstress’ hit “Rolling in the Deep” at campaign rallies to ramp up the atmosphere before he saunters on stage. He also previously played her James Bond themed-song after a dystopic speech h...more »

Instructors from the American-led coalition worked with Iraqi soldiers during a live ammunition exercise last week at the Besmaya military base south of Baghdad. The emergence of Islamic State affiliates in various countries has prompted a new American approach. Credit Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters *New York Times*:* U.S. Broadens Fight Against ISIS With Attacks in Afghanistan* WASHINGTON — The United States has carried out at least a dozen operations — including commando raids and airstrikes — in the past three weeks against militants in Afghanistan aligned with the Islamic State, exp...more »

Afghan security forces inspect outside the office of the civil order police, at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan February 1, 2016. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail *BBC*: *Afghanistan attack: Kabul suicide bomber kills 20* A suicide bomber has killed 20 people at a police headquarters in the Afghan capital Kabul, officials say. At least 25 others were wounded in the blast in the west of the city, the interior ministry said. Some reports suggest most of those killed and injured were police officers. Earlier reports said most of the dead were civilians. The Taliban sa...more »

*Politico: **Sanders military adviser briefed him once* "I was asked to speak to him just once, which I did," says Lawrence Korb, cited by Vermont senator in CNN interview. Facing skepticism about his foreign policy expertise, Bernie Sanders said on Sunday that he speaks to "many, many, many people" who provide him with advice on the subject. But the sole person Sanders cited by name told POLITICO that he's spoken to Sanders only one time recently. "I was asked to go over and speak with him just once, which I did," said Lawrence J. Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American...more »

*Reuters*: *Syrian government forces attack rebels near Aleppo, talks to convene* Syrian rebels fought back against an offensive by government forces near a supply route into the city of Aleppo on Monday and said there had been no letup in Russian air strikes, despite a promise of goodwill moves by Damascus to spur peace talks. U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura was due later on Monday to meet Syrian opposition groups in Geneva, hoping to launch indirect peace talks after five years of war that has killed 250,000 people. A meeting with the government delegation was postponed because d...more »

Further to an earlier post... *Newswatch*'s David Keighley has received a statement from Ofcom in response to his post about the appointment of Bill Emmott, the ultra-pro-EU co-creator of the biased BBC mockumentary *The Great European Disaster Movie*, as Chair of Ofcom's Content Board, with responsibility for TV and Radio. This is what that Ofcom statement says: “Any conflicts of interest involving non-executive Board members are managed appropriately and Bill Emmott would not be involved in discussions or decisions related to the EU referendum.” Isn't that extraordinary? Fo...more »

Global Research, The Ecologist, RINF, Countercurrents, CounterPunch *Click here to read request for support* How can we broaden our movement to appeal to and involve the majority of people out there who do not seem to be aware, do not seem to care or are just too apathetic? This has long been an issue for many a campaign group or activist. There are many groups who have been offering a credible analysis of how the world functions. But many of these groups use certain language and theoretical constructs whereby they end up preaching to the converted and make little headway in galva...more »

A new cannabis based suppository made from cannabidiol and cocoa butter infused with THC is now available to ease the discomforts associated with period pains. The tampon-sized insert aims to “maximise muscle relaxing and pain relieving” without getting you high. They can be ordered online providing you have a medical marijuana card and live in one of the 23 US states that has legalised the sale of weed for health purposes. Racked reports: The first — and only — cannabis suppository on the market dedicated to treating menstrual cramps, Foria Relief officially launched January 25th....more »

Yesterday Reuters reported that Barclays and Credit Suisse agreed to pay the SEC and New York State Attorney General's Office 154.3 million to settle charges that they misled investors engaged in transactions in the firms' dark pools. Dark pools are trading platforms where trades remain non-transparent to other traders until fully executed. Dark pools have been criticized because their lack of transparency facilitates a range of fraudulent activities, especially as connected with high frequency trading: Sarah N. Lynch. Barclays, Credit Suisse strike record deals with SEC, NY over...more »

*"I Am Here On This Earth For My Own Soul’s Evolution-* * Not To Take Care Of You" * Author Unknown "Love is not about taking care of someone else. Even though taking care of someone else could be rewarding, it usually becomes a burden sooner or later. Some people learned to do this because they had to in order to survive. Some children grew up too fast - having to take care of their siblings or emotionally unbalanced parents. Caretaking can become a disease. Most caretakers become martyrs and eventually become sick or addicted to something to take away the pain. When I caretake som...more »

"Real friendship or love is not manufactured or achieved by an act of will or intention. Friendship is always an act of recognition... in the moment of friendship, two souls suddenly recognize each other. It could be a meeting on the street, or at a party or a lecture, or just a simple, banal introduction, then suddenly there is the flash of recognition and the embers of kinship grow. There is an awakening between you, a sense of ancient knowing." - John O'Donohue

*"Daily Self-Care- Putting Yourself First"* by Madisyn Taylor, The DailyOM "Putting yourself first means that it may be necessary to say no to someone else in order to say yes to yourself. We have all heard the instructions of an airline attendant reminding us to put on our own oxygen mask before we help anyone else with theirs. This advice is often cited as a metaphor for self-care because it so accurately expresses why it is important. It seems to say, ironically, that if you can’t take care of yourself for yourself, do it for others. Few situations in our daily lives mimic the wa...more »

"We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity." - Paulo Coelho, "The Alchemist"

"We rush through our days in such stress and intensity, as if we were here to stay and the serious project of the world depended on us. We worry and grow anxious; we magnify trivia until they become important enough to control our lives. Yet all the time we have forgotten that we are but temporary sojourners on the surface of a strange planet spinning slowly in the infinite night of the cosmos." - John O'Donohue

Islamic State (ISIS) extremists beheaded a Syrian boy in front of his parents on Saturday in the northern city of Jarablus. The so called Islamic State terrorists accused the 14-year-old of apostasy for missing Friday prayers and demanded a crowd gather to watch the macabre event. ARA news reports: The 14-year-old boy was arrested by ISIS militants for missing Friday prayers at the central mosque of Jarablus, where pro-ISIS preachers usually deliver speeches promoting the group’s alleged Caliphate. Speaking to ARA News in Jarablus, civil rights activist Nasser Taljbini reported that...more »

Last Friday we resurrected a previous feature of Retraction Watch, compiling five retractions that appeared to be simple acts of duplication. This week, we spotlight another five unrelated retractions which, as we said last week, cover duplications in which the same – or some of the same – authors published the same – or some of the same – […] The post You’ve been dupe’d: Data so nice, you see them twice appeared first on Retraction Watch.

I've been informed by such establishment outlets as the New York Times that Iowa is actually deciding the presidential election of 2016. If Trump wins this teensy-weensy caucus, he wins the GOP nomination. If Sanders loses Iowa, he loses the entire nation. Game over, people. Your votes, as ever, will not really count. This is what they want you to think, of course. Iowa is just the convenient excuse for the ruling elite to get what they want. And let's face it, what they want is the downfall of democracy. By making it as hard as possible for "folks" to attend the caucuses, they ens...more »

By Paul Homewood The head of Hitachi has warned that the debacle surrounding the construction of Hinkley Point nuclear plant throws up “very serious concerns” about its own investment in the UK. Hiroaki Nakanishi, chairman and chief executive of the Japanese industrial giant, said the setbacks experienced by Hinkley’s developer EDF raised questions about […]

*This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #* *CarnationSweepstakes #BetterBreakfast **#CollectiveBias* This year I decided it was time to hit my health and fitness goals hard. I spent the last week of December trying to come up with a plan. I didn't want to crash and burn, I wanted a lasting plan that I could stick to for the rest of my life. I didn't just want to be on track until I met my goals, I wanted to be permanently on track. One of my biggest problem areas is breakfast. I love breakfast foods. Bacon, Pancakes l...more »

Multiple bombings of oil pipelines in southern Nigeria has caused a massive oil spill into surrounding areas. Attacks on the Agip oil pipelines have caused thousands of barrels of oil to pollute waterways, farms and fishing grounds in the southern Bayelsa state. Oil flowed unchecked for two days, according to fishermen who complained that a clean-up had not yet started. Press TV reports: The unidentified official said 16,000 barrels of oil per day were lost since explosions on Thursday and Friday which were blamed on militants who want a bigger share of oil revenues in the producing ...more »

Julian Huxley, brother of "Brave New World" author Aldous Huxley, coined the concept in his 1927 work* "The Tissue-Culture King":* *"Well, we had discovered that metal was relatively impervious to the telepathic effect, and had prepared for ourselves a sort of tin pulpit, behind which we could stand while conducting experiments. * *This, combined with caps of metal foil, enormously reduced the effects on ourselves."* “The lowest strata are reproducing too fast. Therefore… they must not have too easy access to relief or hospital treatment lest the removal of the last check on nat...more »

Armed South Korean military forces arrived yesterday in Gangjeong village on Jeju Island. The Navy base there is nearly complete and it is just a matter of time before US-South Korean military operations begin from what is known as the "Island of Peace". There can be no doubt that the growing US-South Korea-Japan military alliance is aimed at China. The US Navy just last week was provocatively sailing Aegis destroyers inside China's exclusion zone. US Air Force spy planes are continually bumping up against the Chinese coast trying to get a reaction and thus create a pretext for...more »

*MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2016Interlude—While skipping Trump's budget plan:* Until the current campaign cycle, the most appalling part of our White House campaign was always the Iowa Straw Poll, a Republicans-only monstrosity. Mercifully, this fake event was put out of its misery after Campaign 2012. That leaves tonight's event, the Iowa Caucuses, as our crowning achievement in the realm of electoral faux. As a general matter, caucus systems are designed with the intent of restricting participation by voters. Every four years, the Iowa caucuses succeed in this non-democratic goal. Wa...more »

It has taken just over a month since the passage of the god-awful rewrite of ESEA for Diane Ravitch to begin revising the history of her earlier enthusiastic support for the piece of dreck legislation that Gary Orfield and others have noted will turn back education policy in this country by more than a half century. In initiating her own limp revisionism, Ravitch has skewed a number of facts and left out out others, while failing to account for her quick pivot from unabashed ESSA fan to its harshest critic. A correction is required, then, and in order to do so in a manner that d...more »

The fall of Ramadi has led the Islamic State to carry out a series of counter attacks in Anbar province. Despite the number of security incidents slowly declining throughout January the number of casualties has remained high because of the intensity of the fighting. There were 132 reported incidents from January 22-28. The month started with 150 the first week, then down to 140 from January 8-14, and then 135 from January 15-21. That averaged out to 19.8 attacks per day the highest amount since 20.0 seen during August 2015. The number of dead and wounded has been higher then pre...more »

Restricted by law from giving large amounts directly to candidates’ campaigns, wealthy individuals can instead donate to political action committees, better known as super-PACs. George Soros donated $6 million to a super-PAC financing US Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton last month, and Haim Saban, an Israeli-American media tycoon, and his wife Cheryl have contributed a total of $5 million to Clinton’s super-PAC. Press TV reports: Soros has now provided a total of $7 million in this election cycle to Priorities USA Action, a super-PAC which raised $41 million on b...more »

[image: voter - Iowa - 400] What key voting groups should we look for in the entrance polls in Iowa on Monday night? On the Republican side, evangelicals or born-again Christians have historically made up a large voting bloc in the Hawkeye State. In 2012, evangelicals... Continue reading *“Iowa Caucuses: What to Watch for in Entrance Poll”* at *msnbc.com*.

[image: Bernie Sanders] (RNS) Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders -- a political independent, a socialist and possibly the most liberal member of Congress -- may be a cultural Jew but he's campaigned on a the idea that people of faith and those with strong... Continue reading *“5 Faith Facts About Sen. Bernie Sanders: Unabashedly Irreligious”* at *religionnews.com*.

[image: In this photo taken Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, Mayrem Humeyisu talks about food supply in her neighborhood in a rural village Dubti Woreda, Afar, Ethiopia. Morbid thoughts linger on people’s minds in the area. The crops have failed and farm animals have been dying amid severe drought that has left Ethiopia appealing for international help to feed its people. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)] ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- The U.S. has boosted its emergency food aid to Ethiopia by nearly $100 million to combat one of the worst droughts in decades, the U.S. Agency for International Develo...more »

[image: Three male family members who are also Coptic Christians put their arms together and display their Coptic cross tattoos. Most of Egypt's several million Christians have these wrist tattoos.] CAIRO (AP) -- Three Coptic Christian students face charges of insulting Islam and will stand trial this week after appearing in a video mocking Muslim prayers, one of a series of court cases that reflect lingering religious intolerance and Muslim-Christian...more »

*Justin Faerman* - Everything that we put into our bodies has some effect on our consciousness and the functioning of our mind. The post 3 Powerful Ancient Herbs to Raise Consciousness and Expand Awareness appeared first on Waking Times.

*"So It Begins: * *Bloomberg Op-Ed Calls For An End Of Cash”* by Tyler Durden “In a moment of curious serendipity, a little over 90 minutes after we showed what a dystopian, centrally-planned, cashless society unleashed in a negative interest rate world would look like ("by forcing people and companies to convert their paper money into bank deposits, the hope is that they can be persuaded (coerced?) to spend that money rather than save it because those deposits will carry considerable costs"), and briefly after we laid out the countless recent warnings from "very serious people" tha...more »

*Special Correspondent*:* Looking for Allah as a Shiite in Saudi Arabia* *I came to Mecca seeking spiritual enlightenment. I found discrimination and distrust.* MEDINA and MECCA, Saudi Arabia — It’s an image famous the world over: a teeming swirl of pilgrims, thousands upon thousands garbed in white, wending slowly in circles around a two-story gilded black cube. Islam’s holiest site, the Kaaba, and the mosque that surrounds it, has captivated both Muslims and non-Muslims alike for more than a millennium. It is the religion’s ultimate symbol of global spiritual unity, the directio...more »

Karolinska Institutet may reopen its misconduct investigation into acclaimed surgeon Paolo Macchiarini following new allegations revealed during a documentary series by Swedish Television. According to a recent statement from KI: The programmes contained information that was unknown to the university management, which means that the inquiry into suspected scientific misconduct might be reopened against Professor […] The post Karolinska may reopen inquiry into star surgeon Macchiarini, following documentary’s revelations appeared first on Retraction Watch.

[image: Cecil Rhodes] Oxford University administrators have defied a major protest wave and announced that they will be keeping a statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes on campus. For the past several months, Oxford has seen repeated protests and demands from the "Rhodes...more »

[image: bathroom - 400] A new bill proposed by Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) AB 1732, would force businesses, government buildings and other public venues to stop identifying single-use restrooms as either male or female and identify themselves as "all-gender" instead. On the California... Continue reading *“California Considers “All-Gender” Bathroom Bill”* at *breitbart.com*.

USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) in 2012. US Navy Photo *USNI News*: *China Upset Over ‘Unprofessional’ U.S. South China Sea Freedom of Navigation Operation* Chinese officials issued several condemnations of the latest U.S. freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea in which an American guided missile destroyer came within 12 nautical miles of Chinese administered Triton Island in the Paracel Island chain. Hours following the pass of USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) Chinese state controlled media published rhetorically charged statements from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and M...more »

Fingertip: The US Air Force unveiled insect-sized spies 'as tiny as bumblebees' that could not be detected and would be able to fly into buildings *Brendan Orino, Brookings*: *Six technologies that the U.S. military is betting on* At a time when budgetary resources at the Pentagon are being squeezed, the U.S. military is in search of force multipliers. From the nuclear enterprise to command and control to robotics and beyond, emerging technologies offer ways to modernize forces in innovative—and often efficient—ways. On January 21, Michael O’Hanlon sat down with General Paul J. S...more »

I am sort of interested how much people believe in rumors, in this case rumors that LIGO is going to announce the discovery of gravitational waves (see a PhD comics explanation of those). You may have read about the rumors on this blog and elsewhere. My most important source of the rumors is a former boss of a group at a major enough physics place. I've heard about the date, 11th February (next Thursday), from her or him, too (exclusive communication). Some cosmologists have reported cancellations of LIGO members' events on that day, too. Moreover, a TRF reader who is a profes...more »

*Paul Armentano* - Long-term exposure to tobacco smoke is demonstrably harmful to health., but what about cannabis? The post All Smoke Is Not Created Equal – The Difference Between Tobacco and Cannabis appeared first on Waking Times.

Hillary has tried to say she isn't part of the Establishment. That's insane and if you believe it, you should do the country a favor and not vote at all. This should be the year that voters from both parties are disgusted enough with that corrupt, self-serving Establishment to turn it out. Republican voters seem to understand the dynamic better than Democratic voters, even if their fake anti-Establishment candidate is a a degenerate and parasitic New York City billionaire. Over the weekend, the *NY Times* published OpEds by Frank Bruni and Ross Douthat examining the spirituality ...more »

[image: Valentines] Celebrations of Valentine's Day and the other "dominant holidays" are ending at one St. Paul elementary school, according to a letter from the principal addressed to families. Principal Scott Masini of Bruce Vento Elementary School, whose student body is overwhelmingly... Continue reading *“St. Paul School Bans ‘Dominant Holidays’ Like Valentine’s Day and Christmas out of ‘Tolerance,’ ‘Respect’”* at *startribune.com*.

[image: Iran President] TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran said Monday it now has access to more than $100 billion worth of frozen overseas assets following the implementation of a landmark nuclear deal with world powers. Government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht said much of...more »

[image: WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 08: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) and members of the House GOP leadership hold a news briefing following the weekly Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol December 8, 2015 in Washington, DC. The House is preparing to vote on legislation that would deny visa-free travel to anyone who has been in Iraq, Syria or any country with significant terror activity in the past five years and changes to the visa waiver program, which allows citizens from 38 countries to travel to the U.S. without a visa.] President Obama next Tuesday will meet ...more »

Two of Europe’s biggest garment retailersH&M and Next, have found Syrian refugee children working in their supplier factories in Turkey, according to a report by a company ethics watchdog. Thousands of Syrian refugees are working illegally in the Turkish garment industry where child labour, low wages and poor conditions are common. Turkey along with China, Cambodia and Bangladesh, is one of the largest producers of clothing sold on the British high street, supplying labels that include Topshop, Burberry, Marks & Spencer and Asos. RT reports: Of the 28 major brands questioned by the ...more »

http://pursuitchannel.com/ Those who pay most dearly for the neo-liberal binge we have been on are children. Chris Hedges writes that, in the United States Violent criminals are socialized into violence. And a society that permits this to take place is culpable. Over 15 million of our children go to bed hungry. Every fifth child (16.1 million) in America is poor. Every 10th child (7.1 million) is extremely poor. We have 25 percent of the world’s prison population. We have scaled back or cut social services, including welfare. Our infra...more »

*Published on January 27, 2016* Performance by Jordan Page www.jordanpagemusic.com Dedicated to the memory of Robert LaVoy Finicum; AZ rancher, father of 11 children, patriot, and member of Citizens for Constitutional Freedom who was killed by police with his hands above his head on 1/26/16 near Burns, Oregon. The Ballad of Lavoy Finicum (Cowboy’s Stand for Freedom) (copyright Jordan Page 2016) He was a man who loved to walk the land To turn his cheek but also take a stand When his conviction called he followed what he felt was right There’s no telling just what time will bring Y...more »

*Mayy Gallagher, New York Times*: *Welcome to the Age of the Commando* A FEW months ago, my wife and I had dinner with a couple we didn’t know very well. It was awkward at first, but there was wine, and conversation soon followed. At one point, the wife asked about my tour in Iraq, where I served four years as a cavalry officer. I began talking about the desert, the tribal politics and the day-to-day travails of counterinsurgency. “That’s all fine,” the husband interrupted. “But tell us about the super-soldiers. The Special-Ops guys. That’s what people care about.” He had no time f...more »

[image: US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in Kyiv, Meeting with Minister of Finance Natalie Jaresko, Jan. 28, 2015.] Federal Reserve Bank of New York officials secretly conducted real-time exercises during the 2011 and 2013 debt-limit crisis that demonstrated the federal government could function during a temporary shutdown by prioritizing spending, even as Treasury Secretary Jack Lew publicly claimed...more »

This is a guest post by Pepper D. Culpepper, Professor of Political Science at the European University Institute, as part of the Duck of Minerva’s Symposium on Structural Power and the Study of Business. This post draws on ideas developed at greater length in Culpepper’s article found here. Links to other posts in the symposium can […]

By Paul Homewood http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/2/024001#erlaa0d97f1 I touched on the latest attempt to remove the Roman and Medieval Warming Periods. This is the Abstract: The spatial context is critical when assessing present-day climate anomalies, attributing them to potential forcings and making statements regarding their frequency and severity in a long-term perspective. Recent international initiatives […]

*I can remember a friend of mine telling me back in the middle 80's how her doctor had given her a prescription to walk a few hours every day as her therapy for depression.* *This would be a rarity today with our take a pill for every ailment mentality.*

*Catherine J. Frompovich* - Are you ready for the data and the fact that Big Pharma is NOT liable for vaccine damages caused? The post Are You Aware Of Big Pharma’s Impressive Records? appeared first on Waking Times.

[image: Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks during a campaign rally, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016, at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)] WASHINGTON (AP) -- Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Chris Christie, the four Republican candidates in a showdown for their party’s traditional supporters, closed last year with roughly as much money in the bank combined as Ted Cruz, the...more »

[image: Donald Trump debate LV - 900] Of all the many things said about Donald Trump, what was said by Roger Ailes, head of the Fox News Channel, said it all in just two words: “Grow up!” It is amazing how many people have been oblivious to...more »

[image: WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 28: House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) speaks during a press conference after a closed meeting with fellow Republicans, on Capitol Hill, July 28, 2015 in Washington, DC. The House plans to move on Wednesday to extend highway and transit programs for three months.] This week’s vote to override President Obama’s veto of a partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act and a partial defunding of Planned Parenthood may fail -- but one of the House’s top Republicans and an influential conservative policy group told...more »

[image: Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens is all smiles as she answers questions about the capture of both outstanding jail escapees Hossein Nayeri and Jonathan Tieu are in the custody of the San Francisco during a news conference outside Orange County Sheriff's Department headquarters in Santa Ana on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016. (Ken Steinhardt/The Orange County Register via AP)] SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- With all three violent inmates who escaped from a California jail back in custody, authorities are beginning to examine how they carried out the jailbreak and what they did during ...more »

*Photos: Costumes, beads and daytime fun Sunday as Carnival rolls down streets of the city ~New Orleans Advocate* * Most underreported story in New Orleans: The long decline of UNO ~Library Chronicles *

*The Left are still obsessed with race* *The report below is from Boston. It is race-obsessed. The carefully set-out categorization of students by race is reminiscent of apartheid South Africa. But why does race matter? The school is an academically selective one, which is why its students get good results. So the students who are there are there because of their ability. And blacks are simply less able as judged by the school's admission criteria. So admitting less able black students would simply destroy the basis of the school's success and do nothing for the bl...more »

Scientists in the UK have been given the green light to genetically modify human embryos for the first time. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) regulator has approved a licence for researchers at the Francis Crick Institute in London to use gene editing in research. They will now be able to perform experiments on embryos in the first seven days after fertilisation The Independent reports: It remains illegal for the scientists to implant the altered embryos into women, but the decision represents a huge landmark in the use of revolutionary gene-editing technology...more »

*As the ‘blue Arctic’ expands thanks to global warming, an icebreaker finds no ice to break (?)* *A large excerpt below from an article by Tom Yulsman, an old Warmist from wayback. The climategate emails shook him for a while but he soon got back on track. And as is often the case with Greenies, what he does not say is what you need to know. Let's start with this graph from Cryosphere Today, the Polar Research Group at the University of Illinois. It's too big to be put up legibly on this blog but you can click on the link to see it. It shows no trend in global sea ice ...more »

[image: In this Jan. 3, 2012 file photo, voters sign in on caucus night at Point of Grace Church in Waukee, Iowa. More than 40 years ago, a scheduling quirk vaulted Iowa to the front of the presidential nominating process, and ever since most White House hopefuls have devoted enormous time and money to a state that otherwise would get little attention. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)] DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- For more than a year, presidential candidates have fanned out across Iowa, shaking hands and posing for photos with voters in coffee shops, American Legion halls and libraries, ofte...more »

[image: President Barack Obama speaks to a joint session of Congress regarding health care reform] After Republicans won a majority in the Senate and maintained their majority in the House in November 2014, I proposed that the two chambers take five modest steps to repair what had become a dysfunctional legislative branch. This was part...more »

[image: Trump] The president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University is drawing a hard line when it comes to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. In a letter posted on the college’s website in late January, university president Everett Piper said in no uncertain terms that... Continue reading *“Evangelical Christian College President Refuses to Invite Trump to Speak”* at *christianpost.com*.

*"Confessions of an Economic Hitman"* *Interview with *J*ohn Perkins* "Freedom and Democracy", huh? Rarely if ever will you find such real, plain truth. How It all *really* works: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-a6jzU0YgQ

[image: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, speaks during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016.] JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel’s Cabinet voted Sunday to allow non-Orthodox Jewish prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, a move advocates said marked a historic show of government support for liberal streams of Judaism. The issue is of particular importance...more »

By Paul Homewood I see Peter Stanford has been at the Jamaican Woodbines again! There is nothing in the Met Office forecast that is anywhere out of the ordinary for this time of year, with a bit of hill snow in the north likely for the next day or two. Certainly not […]

The five most popular posts last month were ... 1. Top 100 Independent Tweeting Bloggers 2016 2. Jeremy Corbyn, Women, and the Shadow Cabinet 3. Is the Labour Party Middle Class? 4. A Note on Laura Kuenssberg and the BBC 5. Simon Danczuk and Narcissism I can't say I'm shocked that the annual countdown of independent bloggers clinched the top spot, but I am *very pleased* to not that last month was the busiest ever traffic-wise. 67,000 page views is hardly premiere league stuff, but at over 2,000 a day that will do me nicely thank you very much. Of course, one can never have too big ...more »

[image: Fearless dangerous trust Faith - 900] SHELLY DUFFER -- Three hundred times. Over three hundred times, actually. Over three hundred times, God's people are told in Scripture, “Do not be afraid.” That is not nothing. Fear is an old foe of mine. A familiar enemy. And, with one...more »

The Oregon sit-in has led to the first casualty. When the ranchers were driving somewhere, police stopped them. The ranchers' de facto spokesman LaVoy Finicum (who lives in Arizona) raised his hands (as the FBI video shows) but after some unclear movements, he was shot dead. Cliven Bundy and others say that it was an assassination of a man who has surrendered. A person claims to be an eye witness of this murder. 18-year-old Victoria Sharp who was there claims that 100 or so shots were fired by the FBI (not three, as the FBI claims) and the FBI is lying about tons of other things, ...more »

*“The West Is Reduced To Looting Itself”* By Paul Craig Roberts “Myself, Michael Hudson, John Perkins, and a few others have reported the multi-pronged looting of peoples by Western economic institutions, principally the big New York Banks with the aid of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Third World countries were and are looted by being enticed into development plans for electrification or some such purpose. The gullible and trusting governments are told that they can make their countries rich by taking out foreign loans to implement a Western-presented development plan, wit...more »

*IBTimes:* *Amid Low Oil Prices, Nigeria Requests $3.5B From World Bank As Africa's Largest Economy Struggles* Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has requested $3.5 billion in emergency loans amid continuing low oil prices, the Financial Times reported Sunday. The oil exporter is the largest economy in Africa, and a worldwide oil glut has caused worsening financial problems throughout the nation. "I think we all agree that Nigeria is facing significant external and fiscal accounts challenges from the sharp fall in ... oil prices, as of course are all oil exporters,” the Internati...more »

A flu epidemic in Ukraine has been traced back to an artificial strain of flu, deliberately released from a U.S. bacteriologic lab in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Medical expert Viktor Pehkov spoke to local doctors, and recently wrote on his blog: “In the area of Kramatorsk there is bacteriologic laboratory belonging to the USA. There was a leak, of the virus H1N1, so-called Swine flu, but it has menacing potential, as there was a leak of the virus causing fulminant of severe pneumonia. Very often the carriers of virus have them both. In the beginning it affected Ukrainian soldiers en mass...more »

Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder have said that toxic substances in fracking fluid have been found in many everyday household items, including toothpaste, detergent, and ice cream. Their findings, published in the journal Analytical Chemistry, prove what many people have long-thought: that contamination of water supplies may be traceable to the chemicals used in fracking. Naturalnews.com reports: “This is the first published paper that identifies some of the organic fracking chemicals going down the well that companies use,” says the paper’s lead author and a co-...more »

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Russia that it will have to “endure the consequences” if their jets continue to violate Turkish airspace, following the alleged infringement by a Russian Su-34 warplane. The stern warning comes just two months after Turkey shot down a Russian jet for crossing over its territory. The incident is hotly disputed by Russia, who say they were legally flying over Syria at the time. Foxnews.com reports: “We regard this infringement which came despite all our warnings in Russian and in English as an effort by Russia to escalate the crisis i...more »

ISIS have expressed fear for the first time as a mysterious sniper has been reported as killing off leaders of the terrorist regime one by one. ISIS militants are said to be baffled as to who is picking off senior fighters following the assassination of three of its top commanders in recent weeks. Express.co.uk reports: The sharp shooter is said to have perfected his skills during the 2011 uprising against dictator Colonel Gaddafi. Senior ISIS terror chief Abdullah Hamad Al-Ansari has been named as the latest casualty after he was attacked on January 23 as he left a city centre mos...more »

ISIS warned Britain that they are on the verge of committing a terrorist attack so horrific in the UK that it will “turn children’s hair white”, in their latest video which promises carnage across the continent of Europe. ISIS have warned that the UK will suffer “the lion’s share” of the slaughter it intends to commit in Europe. Dailymail.co.uk reports: However, in a video released on Saturday, the militants suggest it is Spain which will come under the strongest attack as the West is forced to ‘pay dearly’ for having crushed Muslim rule in Andalusia – more than 500 years ago. The ...more »

The US Department of Defense has ordered Russia to “respect NATO airspace” saying that it believes that a Russian Su-34 jet violated Turkey’s airspace earlier this week. “We are aware of reports and can confirm that yesterday another Russian combat aircraft violated Turkish — and NATO – airspace,” Pentagon spokesman Mark Wright told Russia’s RIA Novosti on Saturday. Presstv.com reports: “We call on Russia to respect Turkish airspace and cease activities that risk further heightening instability in the region,” Wright continued. Wright also stressed the need for Russia and Turkey to ...more »

Two women from Napier, New Zealand have been arrested after it was revealed that they each performed separate vampire attacks over the weekend. In one incident a woman took a bite out of a man’s neck in the aptly named Thirsty Whale pub. The victim lost so much blood he had to be taken to hospital. Earlier on the same day, police were called to an incident in the car park of a supermarket after reports of a woman biting another female were received. Yahoo News reports: Police said the woman had stepped in after her brother became involved in a fight with another man. In relation to t...more »

*“Manna from Hell”* By Jim Hightower “War is hell. Unless, of course, you happen to be a global corporate peddler of rockets, drones, bombs, and all the other hellish weaponry of military conflict. In that case, war is manna from hell. So bring it on. Indeed, it seems as if Beelzebub himself is in charge these days, with U.S. military forces enmeshed in at least 135 countries in 2015 alone. Plus, such chicken hawks*** as Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are maniacally beating their flabby chests and screeching for even more military adventurism. This perpetual warmongering is music to the...more »

*"5 Ridiculous Right-Wing Moments This Week*: *Trump’s Off-the-Wall Spokeswoman Outdoes Herself"* by Janet Allon "Any week with a Republican debate is bound to be chock-a-block full of truly shockingly awful statements these days. Somehow, we’ve become almost inured to what this gang of extremists spews on a daily basis. Islamophobia, bellicosity, cruelty toward immigrants and refugees, hysteria about ISIS, same old same old. But this week contained a few gems you might have missed. Here’s a rundown. *1. Trump’s crazy spokeswoman Katrina Pierson makes mind-bendingly bizarre connec...more »

I tend to be terribly pessimistic regarding the present financial system which was partially handled but never reformed implying that all weakness remain in place. The worst weakness is that they threw a portion of the middle class in the USA into the ditch when that is who should have been supported. It is now too late to change that and we have a sharply under financed consumer section as a consequence. All this leads inevitably to capital asset contraction because we lack sufficient growth in the middle clasc itself. Just who do you think buys everything and directly and in...more »

This is very promising. Such a planet produces predictions and that is just what we have. Whether we can narrow things down sufficiently to actually detect the planet seems a little unlikely. At least they are getting scope time to find out. We may simply get lucky. It will also be a long time before we go look also. What we do have is something somewhat expected but also known to difficult. That may well be the last real large object out there as well. . *Astronomers just discovered a 9th planet in our solar system for the first time in nearly 170 years* *Jessica Orwig* ...more »

It sounds easier than it is of course and it also sounds like many a promoter who wants to staunch the bloodshed. At least government can fund it. It is going to be an interesting experiment and it will deserve close study. In the past, the problem has always been the lack of money as what it entails is setting a floor under the market. I do have suggestions, having worked through similar situations, but then that is not necessary here at this time. It would be wonderful if this worked out well. At least someone is trying unless he is jawboning. *China Vice President Vows to ...more »

The best possible public health policy will be to simply ban sugar from all processed foods, but still allow it to be used for private use. There are many other strategies available to industry to produce a product that can be consumed even to the point of the consumer adding sugar. The science is ultimately trending to support just such a radical conclusion. Curiously, our taste buds will adjust and it will all become quite bearable. Better yet wev will actually know how much we choose to consume. Nothing will eliminate the obesity epidemic faster.. . *Sugar Identified as a...more »

Scientists have concluded that Earth is actually made up from two planets which came together in a head-on collision that was so powerful it formed the Moon. Initially scientists believed that the Moon was created when a smaller planet called Theia grazed the Earth and broke it up, sending a small piece of it hurling into space where it caught in Earth’s gravity. However, scientists have now discovered after studying Moon rocks that their oxygen isotapes are the same as on Earth. Telegraph.co.uk reports: It means that the collision between Their and the early Earth was so violent t...more »

“The fact that someone says something doesn't mean it's true. Doesn't mean they're lying, but it doesn't mean it's true. All of us cherish our beliefs. They are, to a degree, self-defining. When someone comes along who challenges our belief system as insufficiently well-based - or who, like Socrates, merely asks embarrassing questions that we haven't thought of, or demonstrates that we've swept key underlying assumptions under the rug - it becomes much more than a search for knowledge. It feels like a personal assault. In his celebrated book, 'On Liberty', the English philosopher J...more »

"Even if the existence of a Kurdish question is denied, the Kurdish problem remains." – Iranian general and ambassador Hasan Arfa, "The Kurds: An Historical and Political Study" (1966). *An excerpt from, "Turkey's ‘Fear of Kurds’ Spoils Geneva Talks on Syrian Reconciliation" Sputnik News, January 31, 2016: * The Kurds have been shut out of the Syrian peace talks in Geneva after Turkey demanded they be kept away, Saleh Muslim, the leader of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), told Kurdistan 24 news and information channel. “Turkey’s only concern in Syria is the Kurds, instea...more »

*The Telegraph*: *Oil price crash: Saudis told to embrace austerity as debt defaults loom* Kingdom faces a future of higher taxes and low fuel subsidies amid fears the world's weakest oil producers will soon begin to buckle Saudi Arabia faces years of tough austerity as the worst oil price crash in the modern history forces the kingdom to make radical cuts to government largesse, the International Monetary Fund has warned. The world's largest producer of crude oil will need to "transform" its economy away from oil revenues, which make up more than 80pc of the government's wealth, ...more »

*February 1, 2016* (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - The "New Cold War" could be a potential description for the unfolding geopolitical lay of the planet as Russia reemerges as a world power, and China rises as a new one in the face of a prevailing Wall Street-Washington-London international order. The most obvious battlegrounds taking shape in this "New Cold War" are Ukraine, Syria, and the South China Sea. Perhaps not as high-profile but no less important are the ongoing conflicts in and around Libya, the proxy war being waged across Yemen, and America's enduring occupation of Afghanist...more »

Chinese Navy submarines and warships take part in an international fleet review to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army Navy in Qingdao, Shandong province, April 23, 2009. Guang Niu/Pool/Reuters *Harry J. Kazianis, National Interest: **This Is China's Master Plan to Destroy the U.S. Navy in Battle* *When Chinese officers go to bed at night, what do they fear most?* Despite all the hard work, all the billions of dollars spent, no Chinese sailor wants to tangle with the U.S. Navy. As one retired Chinese senior defense official told me in la...more »

A member of the Golden Knights, the Army's demonstration team, salutes as he exits a Fokker C-31A troopship during a training jump over Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla., Jan. 21, 2016. New York Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher S. Muncy

The Littoral Combat Ship, designed for operations in shallow coastal waters, is made in two versions by Lockheed Martin Corp. and Austal Ltd. Source: U.S. Navy Photo *Bloomberg:* *New U.S Navy Ship Struggles in Test to Fend Off Attacking Boats* * Fast-attack small boats like Iran's enter `keep-out' zone * Pentagon's testing chief also discloses more reliability flaws The U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship struggled in drills at sea to fend off a swarm of small attacking vessels like the Iranian boats it could encounter in the Persian Gulf, according to the Pentagon’s chief weapons t...more »

*US Secretary of State John Kerry **visited Cambodia last week** to … well, no-one really knows what he was there for, including John Kerry. Our intrepid reporter Suzuki Samurai was there to watch his arrival, and the local reaction to it.* ------------------------------ The pre-arrival had all the delicacy of a local and more hysterical version of *CHiPs*. Five hundred taller-than-usual Khmer goons spread across every intersection with Kevlar vests, Chinese assault rifles and mirrored Ray-Bans¹. Check! White-tunicced motorbike cops² with screaming circa-1950's sirens and mirr...more »

We're backing Bernie Sanders at this blog and we urge you to caucus for him tomorrow if you live in Iowa and to contribute what you can to his campaign and to the campaigns of the congressional candidates who have endorsed him and who are running on his progressive platform. As you know, Hillary and her team are campaigning ferociously-- and very negatively-- to win Iowa's caucuses. Let me remind Iowans that in 2012, she privately said the caucus process favors "parties' extremes" (a disparaging way of describing progressives) over moderates (Beltway talk for "conservatives"), whi...more »

*Rowan Scarborough, The Washington Times:* *Obama bucks history, directs Pentagon to make guns safer, not more lethal* Wartime U.S. presidents have taken keen personal interest in picking the most lethal gun for the military. But in President Obama’s first foray into small-arms procurement for the armed forces, his Jan. 4 executive order on gun control directs the Pentagon to find ways to make not so much more lethal firearms, but safer ones. His direct order has brought a few snickers among retired combatants who argue that the commander in chief is issuing his directive at a ti...more »

*Reuters*: *Africans to press Burundi to accept peacekeepers - diplomats* The African Union will send a mission to troubled Burundi to press the government to accept a peacekeeping force after the president rejected such a move, a senior AU official said after a summit on Sunday. African leaders, who held a two-day summit, may also ask the U.N. Security Council to exert pressure with a possible sanctions threat if it refuses, a senior Western diplomat who followed the proceedings told Reuters. Officials said a final communique was awaiting clearance from African capitals. The seni...more »

*New York Times:** Syria Peace Talks Inch Ahead as Bloodshed Continues* GENEVA — As a suicide attack killed more than 40 people near a revered shrine in Syria on Sunday and government forces pummeled a besieged town, peace talks inched forward in Geneva, where a reluctant opposition delegation met for the first time with a United Nations mediator. With that step, opposition delegates signaled new, if tenuous, hope that the Geneva talks could bring a modicum of progress on their immediate demands: an end to starvation sieges and indiscriminate bombings, and the release of prisoners...more »

*WNU Editor:* I just learned that he had past away .... *Famed character actor Abe Vigoda recalled as a class act *(AP). I will always remember him in the Godfather, and on the TV series Barney Miller.

*Wyatt Olson, Stars and Stripes*: *ANALYSIS: China reorganizing military to close gap with US* China’s armed forces are undergoing a sweeping five-year reorganization aimed at creating central control over the military’s nearly autonomous branches and creating a more lethal fighting force to close the gap with U.S. capabilities, analysts say. The restructuring is the most profound undertaken since the 1950s when Soviet advisers helped modernize the nation’s post-civil war military, changes that will likely challenge long-held assumptions by the Pentagon, according to David M. Fin...more »

Image: U.S. Navy photo by Tech. Sgt. Andy Dunaway *Paul Shinkman, David Wood, Nancy Youseff, And Ryan Evans, War On The Rocks*: *Journalism, The Military, And America's Wars* The relationship between journalists and the U.S. military is simultaneously intimate and distant. In the last several decades and the last two in particular, many things have changed in the way that journalists cover the military, but perhaps not as many as you think. Three defense and national security journalists of different generations joined Ryan Evans of War on the Rocks to talk about how covering the m...more »

The CIA seal is displayed in the lobby of CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. (File Photo) *Washington Post*: ‘*Eyewash’: How the CIA deceives its own workforce about operations* Senior CIA officials have for years intentionally deceived parts of the agency workforce by transmitting internal memos that contain false information about operations and sources overseas, according to current and former U.S. officials who said the practice is known by the term “eyewash.” Agency veterans described the tactic as an infrequent but important security measure, a means of protecting vital secret...more »

"We are star-stuff. The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it but the way the atoms are put together. The cosmos is also within us. We're made of star stuff, we are a way for the cosmos to know itself." - Carl Sagan *Click image for larger size.* "The hydrogen in your body, present in every molecule of water, came from the Big Bang. There are no other appreciable sources of hydrogen in the universe. The carbon in your body was made by nuclear fusion in the interior of stars, as was the oxygen. Much of the iron in your body was made during supernovas of stars th...more »

*Click image for larger size.* *“Seeking Order In The Natural Order”* by Chet Raymo “It is a popular misconception that evolution is “just a theory.” On the contrary, the evidence for the development of life over billions of years by common descent from simple ancestors is overwhelming. So overwhelming that most biologists and geologists would call evolution a “fact.” The influential geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky said “Nothing makes sense except in the light of evolution.” Nobel prize-winning biologist Peter Medewar said, “The alternative to thinking in evolutionary terms is not ...more »

"There is a difference between a question and a wonder. I would prefer to answer only questions that will be useful to you. A child looks up at the starry sky at night and wonders. He is filled with the joy of the mystery of creation. Why should I explain everything to you and take away that joy? I will not. The purpose of my words is to create silence, to create joy. I am not here to stuff your head full of knowledge. A child starts out innocent. You ask him something and he says, "I don't know." Then that child grows up and thinks he knows everything. I'll teach you something. I'...more »

"Miracles" "Why, who makes much of a miracle? As to me I know of nothing else but miracles, Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan, Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky, Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water, Or stand under trees in the woods, Or talk by day with anyone I love, or sleep in the bed at night with anyone I love, Or sit at the table at dinner with the rest, Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car, Or watch honeybees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon, Or animals feeding in the fields, Or birds, or the wond...more »

*"The Impossible Dream: Right in Front of You"* by Madisyn Taylor, The DailyOm "Maybe you are using a desire you can't fulfill to distract you from truly engaging the blessings you already have. When it comes to the things we want, there always seems to be an endless list. No matter how many times we get something off that list, we add new things to replace it. In life, this drama of wanting and getting and wanting is all part of the dance. The things we want motivate us to get up and get them. And yet, at the same time, we can torment ourselves with our wanting, especially when we ...more »

*Jeffrey Feltman and Volker Perthes are the two weasels at the center of the plot to destroy Syria, its secular fabric, and its diverse peoples. They have helped to coordinate the policies of NATO, the Muslim Brotherhood, UN, U.S., and ISIS from behind the scenes.* *An excerpt from, "Germany and the UNO against Syria" by Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network, January 28, 2016: * *During the annual meeting of the Bilderberg Group, between the 5th and the 8th June 2008 - five years before the war -* * Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave a presentation which underlined the necessity ...more »

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shares a laugh with fellow candidate and Senator Bernie Sanders at the conclusion of the second official 2016 U.S. Democratic presidential candidates debate in Des Moines, Iowa, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/JIM YOUNG *Molly O'Toole, Foreign Policy:* *Clinton’s Trying to Use Foreign Policy to Beat Sanders* *Here's why it could backfire.* Heading into the home stretch of the unexpectedly close Iowa caucus, an anxious Hillary Clinton is increasingly wielding foreign policy and national security as a weapon...more »

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I've been 'around' for a few years now, pursuing the shifting goal of a sharable home-made surfers resource site focused on ease of use and variety of mostly adult ( whoa : I didn't say prurient ) content.